In consideration of the MMIWG2S crisis in Canada, and our seasonal theatre’s location near the Red River, Shakespeare in the Ruins (SIR) is making an on-going commitment to reparations.*

This is a multi-year commitment, based on our annual earned revenue that will see the organization supporting Drag the Red, a local, community-based, Indigenous lead organization that searches for the murdered and the missing in Winnipeg’s Red River.

In 2023, this financial support was in the amount of $4000, which represents approximately 3.5% of Shakespeare in the Ruins earned revenue for the year.

Drag the Red is an Indigenous-led initiative funded through partnerships and donations and run by volunteers. It was founded in 2014 in response to the discovery of Tina Fontaine’s remains, an Indigenous child murdered in Winnipeg and found in the Red River. They search to recover community member’s remains and evidence in murders and disappearances in the Red River to address Canada’s epidemic level of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2 Spirit people (MMIWG2S).

Since 2018 SIR’s board and management team have prioritized consultation, education, and action to reconciliation, reparation, equity, and responsible story telling.

SIR’s seasonal theatre venue is the Trappist Monastery Provincial Heritage Park, aka “The Ruins” in St. Norbert – Treaty 1 land and a historic Red River Metis community – that sits on the banks of the La Salle River close to where it meets the Red.

 

*SIR understands reparations as monetary or other compensation owed to Indigenous & Black people and communities for the historical impacts of Colonization & Enslavement.

 

For more information about Drag the Red, to make a donation, or to get in touch, check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/dragtheredwpg/

Or email: Bernadette Smith at bsmith_772@msn.com